Bruce Cassidy very well might talk to Torey Krug about his future with the Bruins, but it wouldn’t be totally out of the ordinary.
Krug is Boston’s most notable free agent this offseason, and he’s in line to earn a decent raise on a long-term deal after establishing himself as one of the NHL’s best puck-moving defensemen.
Though Krug has made clear he’s staying dialed in on the here and now, he nevertheless routinely has faced questions about his future. Cassidy on Wednesday was asked how he handles that and if he ever talks to a player about their contract situation. The B’s head coach, who has been in the organization throughout Krug’s Bruins tenure, offered some interesting insight.
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“Only if I feel that there’s stories out there and I sense a little bit of discomfort in the player,” Cassidy responded. “I try not to mess around in a player’s business. That’s his decision going forward, but a guy like Torey I’ve had for a long time, so I have a lot of conversations with him anyway — some to do with hockey, some to do with the power play, some to do with life. So, I suspect I will at some point because it’s Torey and I’ve had him for such a long time, but we’re not going to get too deep involved in it. It’s just about being in the moment. He made the decision to be here (to) stay in the moment. Everything will take care of itself for the most part and we’ll go from there and see where it goes, if he wants to talk about it.
“Then again, the player sometimes doesn’t want to have those conversations either. That’s their personal business, so they’re here to play. They’re professionals, so I expect Torey will give 100 percent and deal with whatever he has to deal with down the road in terms of his contract. So that’s how I’ll handle it.”
